Wall assembly



April 19, 1938. G. E. SHIPWAY ET AL 2,114,770

WALL ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 26, 1936 s Sheets-Sheet 1 l I I w: I a i I l ll l 5' N N i E w N INVENTOR5.

GEORGE'E. SHIP WA Y. ARMA ND v. PRETOT.

ATTORNEY.

April 19, 1933- G. E. SHIPWAY ET AL 2,114,770

WALL AS SEMBLY Filed Feb. 26, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS. GEORGE E.SH/PWA). ARMAND v. PRETOT.

mmmz.

ATTORNEY April 1938. G. E. SHIPWAY ET AL. 2,114,770

Filed Feb. 26, 1956' 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 WW w HHHHHHILIOIIHHH'HHHII 75 7NNNNNNNN s. GEORGE E.5H/PW ARMAND PRETO Gil Patented Apr. 19,1938-George E. Shipway, Noroton, Conn., and Armand V. Pretot, Westfield, N.J., assignore to Johns- Manvllle Corporation, New

notation of New York York, N. Y., a col'- 7 Application February 26,1936, Serial No. 65,800 25 Claims. (Cl. 72-46) This invention relates toan improved wall assembly.

The invention comprises the novel features of the assembly and elementsthereof hereinafter described. In the preferred embodiment, theinvention comprises a wall, suitably a partition, that, although lightin weight, is non-rattling. More particularly, the invention comprises awall assembly including panels and springy means engaging them at anedge portion and, preferably, at all edges thereof.

Other features of the invention will appear from the detaileddescription that follows. Among such other features are projectionsconstituting heels on panels adjacent to a joint therebetween and meanspassing through the said heels, engaged therebehind, and forcing thesaid panels in the direction of the joint, advantageously, against aresiliently compressed joint closing member.

The invention is.illustrated in the attached drawings and will bedescribed, for the purpose of exemplification, in connection therewith.

Fig. 1 shows a face viewof a wall assembled in accordance with thepresent invention, with parts broken away for clearness of illustration.

Fig. 2 shows a vertical sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 shows a longitudinal sectional view on line 3-4 of Fi 1.

Fig. 4 shows a face view on a somewhat reduced scale of the wallassembly at a top portion thereof.

Fig. 5 shows a sectional view of a portion-of the assembly, on line 5-5of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 shows a typical longitudinal sectional view of the wall assemblyillustrating the manner of union to assemblies extending at an anglefrom the assembly first mentioned.

Fig. 7 shows a face view of a panel of kind preferred for use in theassemblies described.

Fig. 8 shows a sectional view of a modified form of door buck with panelengaged on one side thereof.

Fig. 9 shows a face view of a wall similar to that of Fig. 1, but at aportion thereof including a borrowed light and a brace extending fromthe floor-plate to the permanent ceiling of the room.

Fig. 10 shows a sectional view on line "-40 of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 shows a sectional view on line |l-ll of Fig. 9.

There are shown a channel floor plate or member ll, provided withupstanding flanges l2, and a panel I! engaged therebetween.

The panel l3 may be faced on both front and back. Preferably, the panelhas dense and.

strong facing and backing elements ll and i5 and an inner or coreportion l6 adapted to be penetrated readily. Thus, a suitable panel isone having, as the facing and backing elements, a compressed andhardened composition of asbestos and Portland cement in the form ofsheets and an inner or core member, including insulating fibre board orcomposited alternating sheets of asbestos paper of plane and corrugatedsurfaces, respectively. In any case, the corematerial is secured,-as byconventional adhesive or other means, to the facing and backingmaterial. The use of such core material renders the panel difiicultlybut moderately compressible while sufficiently resilient to readilyrecover after compression of the same. Another type of panel that may beused is a sheet of insulating ilbre board, without facing or backingelement. Other conventional panels may beused.

The upstanding flanges I! of the channel member are suitably springy andso spaced from each other normally that, when a panel is insertedtherebetweem the spring flanges are spread apart somewhat, so as to givespring engagement of the panel between the flanges.

When the channel member is used at the lower portion of a wall andrests, at its back, upon a permanent floor H, as illustrated, theupstanding flanges of the said member may be used as a part of the meanssecuring baseboar'ds in position. Thus, the flanges may have a portion I8 that is spaced from both the said panels engaged by the flanges andthe baseboard l9, so that the clip 20, attached at one partto the rearof the baseboard, may be engaged'at another part behind the said portionII. There is thus provided means'for securing the baseboard and holdingit in position by spring action, that is, resiliently. Means forplumbing or establishing the vertical position of the baseboard mayinclude the spacer block 2i engaged behind the upper portion of thebaseboard and a portion of the said flange I! in contact with thebaseboard at its lower portion, as illustrated, the outside of the saidblock and portion lying in a vertical plane.

elements 23 and 24 such as the head and nut, respectively, of a boltassembly with a rod member 23 engaged by the said elements and extendingtherebetween. The rod element extends through the core, as in apreformed hole, be-

- tween the face and back portions of the panels.

.The rod is concealed from view in the finished therein.

This closing member 23 is disposed in the joint and extends continuouslytherealong. It is. suitably, a resiliently compressible member, say, ofmodifled I-shape, having legs 23 and 33 turned inwardly from either endthereof, spaced from the web element 3i, and adapted to be resilientlyflexed theretowards.

Under the combined effect of the tension produced by the bolt assemblyand the resilient compression of the Joint-closing member 23, the jointis maintained properly closed, without danger of rupture of the materialconstituting the edges of the panels. Also. the resilient expansibilityof the Joint-closing member minimizes the likelihood of development ofan open space at the Joint as the panels undergo change in width, withchanging atmospheric temperature or humidity.

At the top portion of the wall there may be used a channel member havingflanges with portions 32 extending downwardly at certain positions andother portions 33 extending upwardly at intervening positions. All theseportions may be springy. The portions 32 may be resiliently forced apartby a panel engaged therebetween.

The upturned portions 33 of the flanges engage and secure in alinement astiffening rail 34 that extends parallel to the top edge of the wall andrests upon the channel member with flanges 32 and 33.

Also, there may be used a clip element 35 such as the bracket clip shownand means 33 slidably securing a leg of the said element to thestiffening rail, as, for instance, the bolt engaged as shown in the slot31, In the other leg 33 of the clip element, the rod member 25 ispreferably engaged, as by passage through a hole in the said leg, sothat the rod member is thus held in established relationship to theplane of the back of the stiffening rail, limited variation beingpermitted.

The various channel members provide convenient passageways for conduits,pipes and the like. Also, at the lower portion of the wall, a channeliron 33 may rest within the channel member H and have its flanges,extending downwardly, resting upon leveling shims 43. When this member33 is used, a convenient conduit space is deflned therebelow.

In Fig. 5, there is shown a support member that may be a stud or beam inthe assembly and that. as illustrated, may be a vertically extendingpart of a door buck. The flanges 4| and 42 of this member extend each indirection generally parallel to the plane of a face of the wall and areprovided at their edge portions with backwardly turned heels 43 and 44,respectively.

These heels are provided with interior surfaces extending approximatelyparallel to each other and at an angle to the main portion'of theflanges. 'Ihe heels extend each in the direction occupied by a paneldeflected from the plane of the face of the wall, at the position ofinsertion, so that the "N l ta Edge 45 of the panel just clears the edgeof the next nearest support or member in the wall, which, in theassembly illustrated, would be the joint-closing member 23.

5 These heels 43 and 44 are preferably springy and are spaced apart by adistance equal approximately to the thickness of the panel or slightlyless; thus they are adapted to engage, resiliently, the borders of thepanel inserted therebetween.

When two walls of the class described meet at an angle to formtherebetween a corner between the inside edgesoi' the panels, asillustrated at the right in Fig. 6 and having an open space 3|associated therewith, there may. be used a corper-brace such as theangle iron having legs 43 and 33 extending across portions of the edgesof the said panels and bolts 41 and 43, each engaging at one end, one ofthe said legs and, at

'the other end, being secured within one of the panels or engaged behindan upstanding projection or heel thereon, as, for instance, behindwasher elements TI and i3.

In order to close the open space at the corner, theremay be used anangle corner post including a portion 43 and another portion 53 formingtherebetween a corner and extending each in a plane approximatelyparallel to a face of the wall. Additional elements 5| and 52 secured,respectively, to portions 43 and 53, may be engaged by the said legs 43and 33, whereby-the corner post 1 is established and held securely inposition.

When the wall assembly meets a permanent wall 33, a bolt 34 may besecured at one end within the panel or behind a heel thereon, as by awasher l3, and at the other end may be secured to the permanent wall,as, for instance, by being screwed thereinto or secured to a strip 53 ofwood nailed to the permanent wall.

A wall assembly so made eliminates the need of studs at every jointbetween the panels. Nevertheless, the spring engagement of thepanels atone or more edges, and preferably at all edges thereof, makes a tightnon-rattling assembly. The assembly is relatively inexpensive ofmaterials and requires a minimum of labor in setting the materialstogether.

The panels used may be thin, say 1 to 2 or less inches thick, a givenpanel forming both sides of the wall and the wall being reenforced oneach face by the material of the entire thickness of the panel.

The baseboard I9 and the molding 30 conceal, in the finished wall, thecut-outs 32 (Fig. '7) of the panels and the bolt ends and washers.

In place of the door buck, of kind shown at the left of Fig. 5, theremay be used an assembly including detachable elements 51 and 58, adaptedto engage therebetween the edge portion of a panel 30 and to be heldtogether by disengageable means such as the screw. The said elements aresuitably anglebars which overlap at their edges, the edges extendingeach at least partly across the edge of the panel.- Suitably, one of theelements also has an out-turned portion or projection 3|, to serve as astop for a door registering with the buck.

In this modified form of door buck, the panel may be introduced intoposition against the element 3! from a forward position, the otherelement 33 then being placed over the front and corner of the panel andsecured in position. The elements 31 and 33 may be springy.

To secure a thinpanel 32 such as a window light in position in thepartition (Fig. 9), there may be used an assembly similar to that of thedoor buck, shown in Fig. 8, except that the angle bars 63 and '64 areprovided with upstanding bead portions 65 and '56, respectively. In thespace defined between these bead portions, there is engaged the windowlight glass, preferably suitably gasketed, as shown at 61.

When a long partition is to be constructed. a stud or brace member 68may be employed at intervals of feet or so. The stud or brace member 68is secured to the ceiling or other permanent enclosure of the room, asillustrated at 69. This member extends downwardly between and againstadjacent panels of the wall, is engaged or secured thereby andterminates at its lower portion within the channel floor plate.

Suitably, this brace is of generally H-shape cross section and includesoppositely extending flanges 10, II, I2, and 13 engaged outside the edgeportions of the adjacent panels 14 and 15.

These flanges may be springy and engage the edges of the panels in aresilient manner.

At its lower portion, the said flanges terminate above the flanges ofthe floor plate H. The web of the brace, however, extends downwardlybetween the flanges of the said floor plate and, advantageously, is heldtherebetween in a manner to permit lateral sliding movement, except asit is restrained by the abutment of the panels 14 and 15 against thesame. This abutment prevents accidental lateral movement of the brace.

Preferably, the web of the brace is provided with holes and the bolt orrod members 25 extend therethrough.

At the top portion of the wall, the channel member and stiffening railmay be severed and portions thereof terminating adjacent to the saidbrace member, on either side, are secured to the said member, as bymeans including bracket clips it.

The details that have been given are for the purpose of illustration,not restriction. It is in-v tended, therefore, that variations withinthe spirit of the invention are to be included in the scope of theappended claims.

What we claim is:

l. A wall assembly comprising panels disposed in approximately parallelrelationship and defining joints between their edges and means extendingeach across one only of the joints, securing together the panels onopposite sides thereof, and pulling the panels towards the joint, thesaid means including elements engaging each a panel on opposite sides ofthe joint and a rod member extending generally parallel to and betweenthe planes of the face and back of the panels and between the saidelements and being engaged thereby.

2. A wall assembly including panels defining a joint between adjacentedges thereof, a resiliently compressible, lineal member extendingcontinuously within and closing the said joint, and means forcing thesaid panels laterally against the said member.

3. A wall assembly comprising a chamiel memher having upwardly extendingflanges, a baseboard, a clip secured at one part to the back of the baseboard and at another part engaging the upper portion of one of the saidflanges, and substantially continuous means for plumbing the baseboard.

4. A wall assembly comprising a channel mem her, a panel engaged betweenportions of the flanges of the said member, other portions of the saidflanges extending in direction generally parallel to the planes of theface and back of the panel and away from the panel, and a stiffeningrail extending longitudinally with respect to the channel member andengaged between thesaid other portions of the flanges.

5. A wall assembly comprising panels disposed in parallel relationshipand defining a joint between their edges, projections constituting heelson the portions of the panels adjacent to the said joint. and meanspulling the panels towards the said joint, the said means includingelements engaged behind the said heels and a rod member extendingthrough the said heels, between the face and back thereof, and engagingthe said elements.

6. A wall assembly, as described in claim 5, including a rigid beamextending along the top of the assembly, a clip element, and meanssecuring the clip element to the rigid beam, the clip element engagingthe said rod member.

'7. A wall assembly, including panels, supporting members, flanges ofthe supporting members extending generally parallel to the face and backof the panels, backward turned heels, on the inside of the edge portionsof the said flanges, defining therebetween a space of widthapproximately equal to the thickness of the panels and extendingapproximately parallel to each other, at an angle to the main portion ofthe flanges, adapting the said heels to receive tightly therebetween apanel deflected from the general plane of the wall, the panel beingdeflected to clear, at its opposite edge, the next nearest member in thewall.

8. A building assembly, including a firm wall, a panel extending at anangle from the said wall, a projection on the said panel constituting aheel in the portion thereof adjacent to the said wall, and fasteningmeans engaged at one end behind the said heel and at the other endsecured to the said Wall.

9. A wall assembly, as described in claim 4, all of the said portions ofthe flanges of the channel member being springy and engaging,respectively, in resilient manner, the top portions of wall panels andthe stiffening rail.

10. A wall assembly including a panel, two angle bars engaging the panelon their inside faces, disengageable means securing the angle barstogether, and a projection constituting a door stop on one of the saidbars.

11. A wall assembly including a panel, two angle bars engaging the panelon their inside faces, disengageable means securing the angle barstogether, and bead portions upstanding from the angle bars and definingbetween the bead portions a space adapted to receive a panel of glassand the like.

12. A wall assembly including panels, a bracing member of the type of astud disposed between and against the edges of adjacent panels, achannel floor plate with upstanding flanges, the bracing member at itslower portion being engaged movably, in lateral manner, between the saidflanges and the adjacent panels controlling the position, laterally, ofthe said member. 13. A wall assembly, as described in'claiml, includinga brace extending in the said joint between the panels, the brace at itslower portion being provided with a hole and the rod member extendingtherethrough.

14. A room partition assembly comprising panels disposed in parallelrelationship and forming a plurality of joints between their edgeportions, means closing some of the joints and termlnating short of theroom ceiling and approximately at the top of the partition, a bracemember extending in and closing another of the said joints, and meanssecuring the brace member at its upper portion to the said ceiling.

15. A wall assembly comprising two angularly disposed panel sectionsabutting at corresponding corner portions, a substantially L-shapedmember having each leg fastened to a panel section at the end surfacethereof adjacent the abutting corner, a. corner finishing member havingjoined side portions extending respectively in substantial prolongationof the distant side faces of the panel sections, and means for fasteningthe finishing member to the assembly.

16. A wall assembly comprising panels disposed edge to edge in a commonplane, resilient jointclosing means disposed between adjacent edges ofcontiguous panels, a stiffening means positioned along the said panels,and means disposed substantially entirely within the plane of the panelsfor simultaneously clamping the said adjacent edges against theresilient joint-closing member to compress the same therebetween and forconnecting the stiffening means to the panels. 17. A wall assemblycomprising panels disposed edge to edge in a common plane, joint-closingmeans disposed between adjacent edges of contiguous panels, a stiffeningmeans positioned along the said panels, and means disposed substantiallyentirely within the plane of the panels for simultaneously clamping thesaid adjacent edges against the joint-closing member and for connectingthe stiffening means to the panels.

18. A wall assembly comprising panels disposed edge to edge in a commonplane, a stiffening means disposed along said pangls, and means disposedsubstantially entirely within the plane of the panels for simultaneouslydrawing the adjacent edges of contiguous panels toward one another andfor connecting the said stiffening means to the panels.

19. A wall assembly comprising panels disposed edge to edge in a commonplane, a stiffen- -ing means disposed along said panels, and means forsimultaneously drawing the adjacent edges of contiguous panels towardone another and for connecting the said stiffening means to the panels.

20. A wall assembly comprising a plurality of panels disposed edge toedge in a common plane and defining joints between their edges, astiffening member disposed along the panels, the panels being formedwith recesses adjacent said memher, a bracket projecting laterally fromsaid member into a recess near the panel edge on each side of eachjoint, and means extending within the panels across :ach joint andengaging brackets on opposite sides of each joint to simultaneouslyclamp contiguous panels together and connect the stiffening member tothe panels.

21. A Wall assembly comprising panels disposed edge to edge to definejoints therebetween, a stiffening member disposed along said panels anda member disposed between said panels and said stiffening member andincluding one channel section with the channel flanges gripping oppositefaces ,of the panels and another channel section with the channelflanges gripping said stiffening member.

22. A wall assembly comprising panels disposed edge to edge to deflnejoints therebetween. a stiffening member disposed along said panels. amember disposed between said panels and said stiffening member andincluding one channel section with the channel flanges gripping oppositefaces of the panels and another channel section with the channel flangesgripping said stiffening member, and means for simultaneously connectingcontiguous panels and fastening the stiffening member to the panels.

23. A wall assembly comprising panels disposed edge to edge to definejoints therebetween, a stiffening member disposed along said panels, amember disposed between said panels and said stiffening member andincluding one channel section with the channel flanges gripping opporsite faces of the panels and another channel section with the channelflanges gripping said stiffening member, and means disposed substantially entirely within the plane formed by said panels forsimultaneously connecting contiguous panels and fastening the stiffeningmember to the panels.

24. A wall assembly comprising a floor channel having resilient,upstanding flanges, a wall panel gripped between said flanges, abaseboard disposed over each flange and clips fastened to the back ofeach baseboard and inserted between the adjacent flange and panel face.

25. A wall assembly comprising a floor channel having resilient,upstanding flanges provided with laterally inset portions, a wall panelgripped between said inset portions, a baseboard disposed over eachflange and contacting near its bottom with a base portion thereof, clipsfastened to the back of each baseboard and inserted between the adjacentflange and panel face, and a member inserted between the top portion ofeach baseboard and the adjacent panel face and which is of suflicientthickness to cause the baseboard to stand vertically.

GEORGE E. SHIPWAY. ARMAND V. PRETOT.

